Bangalore:
Jnanpith Award-winner U.R. Ananthamurthy, on whose suggestion the Government decided to rename Bangalore as Bengaluru, has suggested that the Government should also consider changing the names of several other cities and towns based on popular demand and usage.

As part of the Suvarna Karnataka (golden jubilee) celebrations, Mangalore could be renamed as Mangaluru, Belgaum as Belagavi, Mysore as Mysooru and so on. The suggestion to change the name of Bangalore "is not new. I had even sent an email to the former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna soon after he assumed office. It may have come about a day late but never mind. It is for the good of Kannada and promotion of the language," he said.

At a meet-the-press programme organised by the Press Club of Bangalore here on Tuesday, Dr. Ananthamurthy appreciated the quick action taken by the Government and said it will go a long way in popularising Kannada.

He repeated his criticism against the Centre for according classical language status on Tamil and denying the same to Kannada since the latter predates the former by around 100 years. Giving classical status to a language should be the responsibility of scholars who have thorough knowledge of languages and not the Union Government.

He said Karnataka is a mini-India with several languages spoken in every region of the State. It should also be noted that in the case of many Kannada writers, their mother tongue is another language. "This indeed is an important feature of Karnataka and Kannada."

Referring to the ways of popularising Kannada, he said efforts should be made to open schools with students drawn from all sections of society. In the past, when the caste system was very much in place, common schools enabled children of all castes, creed and economic strata to come together. Added to this, promoting Kannada in primary education will also introduce the language to children at a young age.

Dr. Ananthamurthy also called upon the Government to set up medical and engineering colleges with Kannada as the medium of instruction. It would be good if doctors spoke to patients in their mother tongue. There are many Indian doctors who have studied in Russia in the Russian language, he pointed out.

`Stop mining'

Dr. Ananthamurthy, who launched a struggle against iron-ore mining in the Kudremukh region of the Western Ghats, which resulted in the Supreme Court imposing a ban on mining there, said he would resume the agitation if the Government allows Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd. to operate after the December 31 deadline.

He also objected to the export of iron ore from the Hospet-Bellary belt and said the export of natural resources does not augur well for the future of the State.